Between The Hedges
The University of Georgia was the first team in the south to display hedges around the playing field at Sanford Stadium.
The story has it that a man by the name of Charlie Martin pitched the
idea of the hedges. Martin was the Business Manager of the UGA Athletic
Department in the 1920's & 30's. Martin claimed that he received
his inspiration for the horticultural gem while attending the Rose
Bowl, where he saw the beautiful hedge of roses in the stadium that
bordered the playing surface in Pasadena, Calif.
Sanford Stadium
On
October 12, 1929, when the bulldogs played their first game in their
new stadium against Yale, all eyes could see the newly planted hedges
that surrounded the playing field. Since roses were not a suitable
choice for the Athens climate the university decided upon using an "English privet hedge" (privet Ligustrum hedge) at Sanford Stadium. Georgia's 15-0 victory over Yale on that sweltering day was the first game "between the hedges"
for the Georgia Bulldogs. Currently six other SEC teams play between
the hedges: Ole Miss, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Arkansas, South
Carolina and Alabama. If I forgot one I apologize, but really there is
only on game played "between the hedges" and that game is played at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.
English privet hedge
In
addition to being a great cosmetic touch, the hedges have proven to be
an effective, though perhaps unintended, measure of crowd control,
as well. Even though a major traffic path to exit the stadium from both
stands runs directly alongside the hedges, fans have only stormed the
field and torn down the goal-posts once in the entire history of Sanford
Stadium. This truth is supported in fact by the chain-link fence that
runs in between the hedges.
Pretty clever.
Vince Dooley
No one has spent more time "between the hedges"
than Vince Dooley. The legendary coach Dooley paced the sidelines for
more than twenty years. He was the coach at Georgia from 1964 to 1988.
Coach Dooley has said many times since his departure that "the hedges are something magical."
I have to agree.
The hedges on the football field have created a great mental image and reminder to me that God can, and will, put a protective hedge around his children if, and when, we ask Him to.
That
is not to imply that we as humans won't experience heartache and
failures. The experience of the loss of loved one and living in the
"valley of life" will fall upon the believer and non-believer alike.
This will occur more times than we would like to think or imagine. We
will lose a job, we will eventually get bad news from the doctor and
everyone of us will become very acquainted with trials and tribulations,
but in the midst of all of that I do believe that God can, and will,
protect us.
I have heard it said more than once; God will not take away the storm, but He will be with us while we're in the storm.
I have heard it said more than once; God will not take away the storm, but He will be with us while we're in the storm.
He will protect our emotions, our attitude and most importantly He will protect our faith and hope in Him.
God is my "Protective Hedge".
And
it is, and will be, between those hedges I chose to live the rest of my
life. Honestly, I can't believe that I lived a much different life in
the not so distant past and I can't even begin to understand or believe
how I could live any differently than I am living now.
I will say it again; "God is my Protective Hedge".
He is my hope and my faith is deeply rooted in Him.
In my prayer life over the past five years I have been praying for a "hedge of protection" around my family in "seven"
different areas. This past week I decided that I wanted to put that
prayer in writing and refer to it every day for the rest of my life.
Whether I'm in the car or in the shower, whether I'm sitting in the
bleachers at one of my children's games or I'm cutting the grass, I'm
going to quietly pray these words to God every day and remind myself, as
well as my Savior, that I need Him in my life. I will always need my
personal savior to be my guide, to be my compass and to be my protector.
I can't live without Him.
My faith is in Him.
I'm not asking for prestige, power and position. I'm just asking for His protection.
This is my prayer; "The Prayer for God's Protective Hedge in My Life"
"Protective Hedge"
It
is my prayer that you, God, will forgive me for all that I have done
that does not match up to Your word, Your way and Your will for my life.
It
is my plea, desire and hope that you will put a protective hedge around
my children spiritually, emotionally, mentally, relationally,
physically, financially and socially.
Spiritually
create a desire within each of my children to come to know you in a
personal way and protect the Godly knowledge and wisdom that has found
its way into their heart and mind. Bless them with the desire to become
committed to You and to serve You all the days of their life. Bless them
with a Christ filled life.
Provide a protective hedge around my children emotionally.
Protect their feelings and create in them the proper perspective when
dealing with success and failure. Aid them to handle the high of highs
and the lows of low. Never allow them to get too high or too low. Create
a sense of wanting to protect other people's feelings they come in
contact with. Protect them from feelings of complete despair and
depression; help them to live life with a high emotional IQ.
Mentally
provide a protective hedge around their thoughts and their words. Bless
them with the ability to learn and discern. Create within the ability
to comprehend new material and to intellectually excel in the classroom
and the workplace. Bless their minds and always keep them from
entertaining depravity. Help their thoughts to be clear and their
behavior to be a reflection of making good decisions.
Please put a protective hedge around them relationally.
Protect their friendships, dating relationships and their relationships
with their parents and siblings. Most of all protect the family they
will create someday in the future. Begin protecting their "future"
spouses and their family now. Break the cycle of divorce in our family
with me and bless the boys, and Reese, with one spouse, and one family,
for a lifetime. I pray that their spouses will be men and women of God.
Place around them a hedge of physical
protection. Bless them with good health and protect them from
physically harming themselves or another. Protect them in every athletic
endeavor and when they are behind the wheel driving. Please protect
them physically. Please protect them at all times. In the end, take me
before you would ever take them.
Provide a protective hedge around them financially. Help
and aid them to earn, tithe and save their money. Bless them with the
knowledge that everything comes from You and that we are to be mindful
of that each day we work. Give them a career over a job and help them to
always remember that they are to be respectful of their employer and
that they are to glorify God in workplace. Help them learn how to "fish"
so they can eat for a lifetime. Bless their money and the relationship
they have with it and the decisions they make concerning it.
Socially
put a protective hedge around them. Protect their reputation and their
honor. Aid them in becoming leaders and not followers among their peer
group. Bless them with discernment when it comes to the choices they
make socially. Protect them from people, and groups, that don't care
about them or their future. Help their belief in You to resonate with
everyone they come in contact with and to display the type character
that shows to everyone a person that is very comfortable in their own
skin. Help them to be a winner.
God put a protective hedge around my wife and me spiritually, emotionally, mentally, relationally, physically, financially and socially.
Spiritually put
a protective hedge around our relationship with You. Give us the desire
to read Your word and to spend quality time in prayer. Develop a heart
in us that is obedient to Your commandments and Your Will. Help us to
live in the center of Your will for the rest of our days.
Bless us emotionally and protect us from living solely by our emotions. Help us to acknowledge our emotional state, but never to depend on our emotions to lift us above any of life's troubling circumstances. Protect us from over reacting to a situation or under estimating another's emotional state. Helps us to develop a personality that is calm, cool and collective, and that chooses to respond in love instead of reacting in anger. Help us to protect each others feelings.
Mentally
protect us from thoughts of despair and depressions. Help us to gain
and retain knowledge of You through Your word and at our place of
employment. I pray for wisdom in our lives. Please bless us with wisdom
and discernment in all we do.
Put a protective hedge around us relationally.
Bless our relationship with You, with our children and with each other.
Bless our relationship with our parents and siblings. Bless our
relationships with others and create within us the ability to leave
people in better shape and condition after we have met them than they
were before hand. Bless all of our relationships and help us to live in
peace with everyone.
Create a protective hedge around us physically.
Develop a strong desire in us to remain healthy and to create healthy
lifestyles. Aid us in striving to be physically fit. Protect us during
the day when we travel our separate ways for work and protect all those
that come in our path. Protect our home from physical, relational and
spiritual damage. Bless us with a strong body and appreciation for good
health. Help us to lead healthy lives and bless us with great health.
Provide a protective hedge around us financially.
Help and aid us to earn, tithe and save our money. Bless us with the
knowledge
that everything comes from You and that we are to be mindful of that
each day we work. Give us a career over a job and help us to always
remember that we are to be respectful to our employer and that we
are to glorify God in workplace. Help us learn how to "fish" so
that we can eat for a lifetime. Bless our money and the relationship we
have with it and the decisions we make concerning it. Help us to be
faithful with our money and to help others with what we have been
blessed with.
And finally, put a protective hedge around us socially.
Aid us in developing a lifestyle that displays our faith in You. Help
us to be a witness by the way we behave and not what we say. Help us to
be leaders in our family, church and community. Aid my wife and me in
protecting each others honor and reputation. Help us to put ourselves in
the best position to succeed and not fail socially, and always to be
people that are perfectly comfortable in our own skin privately and
publicly.
God I want to thank you for hearing my prayer and for being my hedge of protection.
In the end, I want to play the game of life and to live daily between Your protective hedges.
Amen.
sbb 1.2.11
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